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Looking for New Router - Advice/Input Appreciated

Looking to replace a router that is about 5 years old. It is a Linksys. Recently had fiber run to my house and the router (wireless N) holds its own but there are spots in the house that aren't getting the signal at full strength. Maybe I really don't need to replace it yet...but I have the itch to do so.

Been reading about routers and looking to spend about $100 if I need to. What I am struggling to understand is the importance of a "dual-band" router. Do I need/want a "dual-band" router?

Anyway...anyone have advice/suggestions on the router that would work best for me? Don't use the net at home for much more than typical surfing/streaming some tv/downloading music.

Re: Looking for New Router - Advice/Input Appreciated

Dual-band just means the router can operate on both the 802.11a frequency band and the 802.11b/g/n band, so if you have some peripheral that only supports 802.11a you need a dual-band router, otherwise don't worry about it.

You may want to consider buying a second router and then turning your old one into an access point (it means exactly that, it allows devices access but doesn't do any other "router" things like give new devices addresses etc, all that is forwarded back to the master router) to help cover the areas of the house you can't cover with just one.

Re: Looking for New Router - Advice/Input Appreciated

I've been using only netgear routers lately. The main reason is that a firmware update a while back allows most of them to be turned into access points later down the road (when you decide to get a new router). Also, they have all sorts of features (like the ability to plug a hard drive in them that will instantly be shared on the network.. so you don't have to run your own file server anymore).

I'm not at home right now, but i'm pretty sure this is the one i have now that works very well (has VERY good range and the ability to run a "guest" network that is completely separate from your main network.. effectively allowing you to run 3 wireless networks from one router)

Re: Looking for New Router - Advice/Input Appreciated

Originally Posted by Bader

Dual-band just means the router can operate on both the 802.11a frequency band and the 802.11b/g/n band, so if you have some peripheral that only supports 802.11a you need a dual-band router, otherwise don't worry about it.

You may want to consider buying a second router and then turning your old one into an access point (it means exactly that, it allows devices access but doesn't do any other "router" things like give new devices addresses etc, all that is forwarded back to the master router) to help cover the areas of the house you can't cover with just one.

I am guessing I don't have any of those peripherals that need the "a" band since my current router is only "b/g/n" bands correct? So a "dual-band" router does nothing for me correct?

Re: Looking for New Router - Advice/Input Appreciated

Actually, you will want a dual band. All it means is that it is able to transmit on both the 2.4ghz of a/b/g and 5 ghz of n. So, you definitely want a dual band, but i'm pretty sure that almost every wireless n 5 ghz router is a dual band router

Re: Looking for New Router - Advice/Input Appreciated

Originally Posted by ISC

I've been using only netgear routers lately. The main reason is that a firmware update a while back allows most of them to be turned into access points later down the road (when you decide to get a new router). Also, they have all sorts of features (like the ability to plug a hard drive in them that will instantly be shared on the network.. so you don't have to run your own file server anymore).

I'm not at home right now, but i'm pretty sure this is the one i have now that works very well (has VERY good range and the ability to run a "guest" network that is completely separate from your main network.. effectively allowing you to run 3 wireless networks from one router)

As for the gigabit aspect of that particular router...is gigabit neccesary for me as I have read it doesn't really mean much unless all of the equipment prior to the router is gigabit rated? I do have fiber running to my home but for some reason I was under the impression it isn't using gigabit technology??

Re: Looking for New Router - Advice/Input Appreciated

Originally Posted by ISC

Actually, you will want a dual band. All it means is that it is able to transmit on both the 2.4ghz of a/b/g and 5 ghz of n. So, you definitely want a dual band, but i'm pretty sure that almost every wireless n 5 ghz router is a dual band router

Re: Looking for New Router - Advice/Input Appreciated

Originally Posted by cyfanatic

As for the gigabit aspect of that particular router...is gigabit neccesary for me as I have read it doesn't really mean much unless all of the equipment prior to the router is gigabit rated? I do have fiber running to my home but for some reason I was under the impression it isn't using gigabit technology??

In all honesty, no, probably not. But almost all of the good routers these days have it by default and you might as well because almost all ethernet cards sold these days are gigabit, so you will get some speed increase in the future.

Re: Looking for New Router - Advice/Input Appreciated

I am guessing I don't have any of those peripherals that need the "a" band since my current router is only "b/g/n" bands correct? So a "dual-band" router does nothing for me correct?

If you want to get really fancy (and your network adapters support it) some routers allow you to simultaneously run both a 5GHz network and 2.4GHz network. This allows you to split traffic into different bands to better handle interference around the house, but doing this is likely going to take quite a bit of tech savvy and I imagine some headaches trying to get it all working. I would not say dual-band is a must-have, but if you're going to get it get a simultaneous dual-band router.

Re: Looking for New Router - Advice/Input Appreciated

Originally Posted by cyfanatic

Looking to replace a router that is about 5 years old. It is a Linksys. Recently had fiber run to my house and the router (wireless N) holds its own but there are spots in the house that aren't getting the signal at full strength. Maybe I really don't need to replace it yet...but I have the itch to do so.

Been reading about routers and looking to spend about $100 if I need to. What I am struggling to understand is the importance of a "dual-band" router. Do I need/want a "dual-band" router?

Anyway...anyone have advice/suggestions on the router that would work best for me? Don't use the net at home for much more than typical surfing/streaming some tv/downloading music.

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